What
until now was mostly effete jawboning over US complaints surrounding
China's territorial expansion ambitions in the South China Sea,
including the occasional sailing of a US ship deep inside the
disputed territorial waters (with zero impact especially now that
China may soon start building maritime
nuclear power plants in the area),
changed dramatically earlier today when China officially denied a
U.S. carrier strike group's request for a port visit to Hong Kong
next week.

The
Stennis strike group

As Stripes
writes, the
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified the United States
Thursday of its decision to deny the USS John C. Stennis and its
escort ships access to the former British colony,
Darragh Paradiso, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Consulate General in
Hong Kong, said by phone. The ministry provided no explanation for
the move.

While
U.S. warships frequently visit Hong Kong, port calls have been
canceled at times of diplomatic strain between the two Asia-Pacific
powers. In 2007, China denied access to the city's port by the
aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk.

The
decision follows weeks of increasing diplomatic sparring between
China and the U.S. over Beijing's claims to more than 80 percent of
the South China Sea. The nuclear-powered Stennis has played a central
role in U.S. efforts to demonstrate its continued security presence
in the disputed waters, with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visiting
the warship on patrol there in April.

A
plane carrying U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter lands on the deck
of the USS

John
C. Stennis on April 15, 2016, as the ship sailed through the South
China Sea.

According
to Shi Yinhong, director of the Center on American Studies at Renmin
University in Beijing, and a foreign policy adviser to the State
Council, the Stennis has become a "symbol
of efforts to spark strategic tensions between China and the United
States. The
cancellation is a snapshot of the current intensity in China-U.S.
security relations. Without
significant security need, routine port calls would not have been
canceled."

While
the US has been complaining about China's territorial expansions over
the past year, culminating with the current recent incident, China's
claims to the South China Sea have resulted in numerous other
disputes with other neighboring Southeast Asian nations that assert
rights to the area, including Vietnam and the Philippines. Tensions
are running high as the region braces for a ruling by an
international arbitration panel on a Philippine challenge to China's
claims.

"We
have a long track record of successful port visits to Hong Kong,
including with the current visit of the USS Blue Ridge, and we expect
that will continue," Paradiso said, referencing the U.S. Navy
command ship already moored in the city.

Finally,
earlier today the US State Department confirmed that indeed China has
refused to allow Stennis to dock in Hong Kong.